Tool for lightening and softening surfaces of printing-plates



No. 624,96l. Patented May 16, I899.

E. G. MULLER.

TOOL FOR LIGHTENING AND SOFTENING SURFACES 0F PRlNTING PLATES.

(Application filed Dec. 12, 1898.) (No Model.)

. WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

#0 7 E duu r c; M l 7 NITED STATES PATENT I OFFICE.

EDWARD c. MULLER, or VAILSBURG, NEW JERSEY.

TOOL FOR LIGHTENING AND SOFTENING SURFACES 6F PRINTING-PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,961, dated May 16, 1899. Application filed DeoemberlZ, 1898. $81ia1N0. 698,969. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD O. MULLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vailsburg, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tools for Lightening and Softening Surfaces of Printing-Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompany' ing drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

The invention has reference to a novel construction of tool in the form of a hammer, which is to be used in the art relating to the manufacture of grained half-tone printingplates, electroplates, or the like for lightening the surface and softening the edges of the plate wherever there may be an excessive impression.

Heretofore the printer had to employ a skilled engraver to cut down the edges and high surfaces wherever there is an excessive impression in the plate in order that a perfect picture may be printed from said plate, for it is a well-known fact that in printingplates which do not have their impressionsurfaces lightened and their edges, more especially', rounded off the printers ink will accumulate at such high surfaces and at.the edges of the plate, thereby preventing clear printing at such points.

The object of my invention is to provide a tool in the form of a hammer having raised portions and indentations in the surface of its head, whereby any printer can tap the plate with the surface of the hammer to properly lighten up the surface of the printingplate and to soften the edges of said plate, thereby doing away with the employment of a skilled engraver and properly finishing off the printing-plate in less time than can now be done by the ordinary hand-engraving.

Electroplates for printing usually consists of lead and antimony with a thin shell of copper-plate. This copper-plate is so thin that the engraver in toning down the impression in the plate has to exercise the greatest care in order not to cut through the plate. This process of engraving is tedious and slow and adds greatly to the expense; but by the use of my novel construction of tool the surface of the copper-plate can be lowered and lightened without any damage to the surface and without danger of cutting through the copperplate, and the printing-surface of the plate can be rendered perfect in less time and with less expense than heretofore. 1

With these several ends in View my invention consists in the novel construction of tool described more in detail in the accompany- In said drawings, A indicates the tool to be used as and for the purpose hereinabove stated. This tool, as will be seen from Fig. 1, is made in the form of a hammer and comprises a head a of metal, which is attached to a handle I) in the usual and well-known manner. Said head a is provided at one end with a slightly-curved surface a, which may be used for burnishing, while the opposite surface a of said head has an arrangement of depressions spaced to provide very narrow bands or surfaces a as clearly illustrated on an enlarged scale in Fig. 3. The shape of said indentations a is preferably as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, each indentation having its sides tapering downwardly and inwardly, as at a and the extreme inner part of each indentation a being slightly flattened, as at a If desired, however, the tapering sides a of the indentations 0L3 may terminate in sharp points a at the center of each indentation, as indicated in Fig. 2. Of course it will be evident that the sizes and number of such indentations may vary according to the kind of printing-plate to be worked, and I may employ from sixty to two hundred of such por-. tions a to the lineal inch. The arrangement of said bands a in the surface a of the head I in said surface a spaced to provide fiat bands of the hammer may also be varied without departing from the scope of my invention, and hence I do not limit myinvention to the exact arrangement of the raised points and indentations between them.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is 1. A tool for lightening and softening the impression surfaces of half-tone, grained, electro, and other like printing plates, comprising a metallic head having a flat surface a and an arrangement of depressions formed in said surface, spaced to provide flat bands or spaces between said depressions,isubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A tool for lightening and softening the impression surfaces of. half-tone, grained, electro, and other like printing plates, comprising a metallic head having a flat surface a and an arrangement of depressions formed in said surface, having tapering sides, and spaced to provide fiat bands or spaces between said depressions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A tool for lightening and softening the impression-surfaces of half-tone, grained,

electro, and other like printing plates, comprising a metallic head a, a handle I), a burnishing-surface a on said head, a flat surface a, and an arrangement of depressions formed or spaces between said depressions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. A tool for lightening and softening the impression surfaces of half-tone, grained, electro, and other like printing plates, comprising a metallic head a, a handle I), a burnishing-surface a on said head, a fiat surface 60 and an arrangement of depressions formed in said surface a having tapering sides, and spaced to provide fiat bands or spaces between said depressions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. A tool for lightening and softening the impression surfaces of half-tone, grained, electro, and other like printing plates, comprising a metallic head a, a handle I), a burnishing-surface a on said head, a flat surface (1*, and an arrangement of depressions formed in said surface a, spaced to provide iiat bands or spaces between said depressions, and said depressions having tapering sides a and fiat tened portions a substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of December, 1898.

EDWARD O. MULLER.

WVitn esses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, WALTER H. TALMAGE. 

